I didn't select "The Hummingbird's Daughter" by Luis Urrea for this project specifically. A dear friend had recommended the book to me long ago, and I just happened to start reading it after taking the vow. It was immediately captivating.
I loved it because I have spent some time in Latin America, and Urrea's descriptions of 19th-century Mexican geographic and social landscapes came alive for me: the power dynamics between the European-descent landowner and the Indian peasants, the contrast between country and city, the brewing revolution.
I also loved it because I am human. Some of it was incredibly poetic, and I still find myself fixating on these images weeks after reading the book: the skeletal fingers of the trees ripping chunks of the sun from the sky, the lovers sleeping entwined (he with his fist clutching her hair), the immoveable woman rooted in the earth. And I appreciated the humor. For example, one of the characters criticizes how the Yoris (upper-class European-descent folks) hug: "They never put their hearts together. They lean in and barely touch the tops of their chests, and they hang their asses out in the wind so none of the good parts touch."
And finally, I loved it because it spoke to me as a feminist and aspiring healer. One of the main characters, Huila, is a feisty elderly indigenous woman who pushes social boundaries and commands respect from her peers and finca supervisors alike because of her deep understanding of the world and her connection to it. Urrea describes how Huila can smell an outcome before she sees it. She knows things with her hands, plants speak to her, and entering dreamworld gives her access to all sorts of knowledge and places. The same becomes true for Teresita, the protagonist of the novel, who becomes a famed healer. Their epistemologies as healers are fascinating and humbling, and learning about them was like experiencing the world and the body through fresh eyes.
Overall, an amazing read.
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